Acadia closes trails to protect nesting falcons

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, Maine (AP) — Acadia National Park officials are closing several popular hiking trails to protect peregrine falcons that have been showing pre-nesting courtship behavior.

The closure of the popular Precipice Trail and other trails near the park's Precipice and Valley Cove cliffs is expected to last until early August. That's about five weeks after any newborn peregrine chicks would be expected to take their first flights.

The peregrine falcon is listed as a Maine endangered species.

Acadia was selected in the 1980s to be one of the reintroduction sites for a peregrine falcon recovery program. In the past 20 years, more than 100 chicks have fledged on Mount Desert Island.